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"Action on Hearing Loss estimates that there are more than 10 million (about 1 in 6) people in the UK with some degree of hearing impairment or deafness." NHS Choices

The figure for a sight problem is I believe 1 in 30.

I recently received a new Action on Hearing Loss catalogue. Lots of different gadgets for enabling you to hear the phone better etc. It can be very frustrating trying to keep in contact with someone on the phone when they cannot hear properly. There are phones where you can turn the volume on the incoming speech up and there are other phone amplifiers too.

We were told that a friend was behaving strangely as she phoned up and spoke and then immediately put the phone down. Later we learned that this is a classic example of someone with poor hearing. They want to tell you something but don't want you to reply because they will not be able to hear you and carry on a conversation.